Alzheimer’s Poetry Project – Philadelphia

Gary Glazner the Founder and Executive Director of the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project (APP) will give an information and overview of the APP at 5 – 6:30 May 3, 2010 pm at The Moonstone Arts Center (110A S. 13th Street, Philadelphia). There will also be an onsite training session at 1:30 pm at a Philadelphia Care Center. Please email ray@thetastybrains.com to register to participate in the onsite. The overview session does not require pre-registration.

At both sessions, Poets will learn how to use poetry to connect with people living with dementia. Glazner will give insights into why poetry is so effective in reaching people with memory loss and discuss studies which show increased synaptic activity and a reduction in stress indicators during poetry recitation.

Alzheimer’s Poetry Project- Mission
Our goal is to facilitate the creativity of people living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia. We strive to advocate for cultural change in the healthcare industry and for the daily inclusion of arts in assisted living and adult day care. Further, we do not set boundaries in our beliefs in what possible for people with memory impairment to create.

By saying to people with dementia, we value you; we are saying we value all members of our community. By working with health care professionals and giving them a tool to have fun with and stimulate the people they serve, we are saying we value your work. By working with family members who have a loved one with dementia, we are saying you are not alone in your struggle to treat your loved one with dignity.

BIO
Gary Glazner is the founder and Executive Director of the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project, (APP). The National Endowment for the Arts listed the APP as a “best practice” for their Arts and Aging initiative. NBC’s “Today” show, NPR’s “All Things Considered” and Voice of America have featured segments on Glazner’s work. Harper Collins, W.W. Norton and Salon.com have published his work. Glazner is the author and editor of five books including: “Ears on Fire: Snapshot Essays in a World of Poets,” published on La Alameda Press, the book chronicles a year abroad in Asia and Europe meeting poets, working on translations and writing poems; “How to Make a Living as a Poet” on Soft Skull Press, which features essays and interviews on creative ways to bring poetry to the world and “Poetry Slam: The Competitive Art of Performance Poetry,” on Manic D Press. In 2009, Glazner was invited by a group of poets to launch the APP in Berlin. In 2010, the U.S. Embassy will fund a pilot project for the APP in Germany. From 2007 to 2010, Glazner was the Managing Director of the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City.

For more information see: www.alzpoetry.com